ArtSpace 44

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ArtSpace is the journal of Leamington Studio Artists

Summer 2016

Preamble by Clive Engwell

Contents

I Departing Editor Charlotte Yeung

Art direction Clive Richards Produced by Magenta Advertising

Left: A detail from Burst of Emotions (2016) by Sonia Bublaitis, mixed media on canvas (detail) 82 x 102cm. See article on page 6

Reviews 2 Another minimalism 4 Coventry University Drawing Prize Features 6 An appreciation of Sonia Bublaitis’s work 8 The art and history of Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum

Editorial team Clive Engwell Dave Phillips

t is with great regret that we have to wave goodbye to our talented Editor, Charlotte Yeung, who is moving on from Warwick University to St Andrews to continue her studies.

We wish Charlotte well and hope that she might be able to find the time to contribute to ArtSpace again at some point in the future.

We also wish to thank two of our reviewers, Claire Noakes and Lottie Adcock, who have also graduated this year. Their contribution to our journal has been much appreciated by the editorial team.

In this issue you will find reviews of members’ work, a consideration of the Leamington Art Gallery and Museum collection and other really interesting art stuff. It is also very pleasing to announce that East Lodge, in the wonderful setting of Jephson Gardens, has become the headquarters of LSA. There are currently four talented ‘artists-in-residence’ occupying studios and the beginning of an interesting exhibition programme for any members who wish to participate. There are many activities to involve members over the next few months: the brilliant Open Studios event; the annual LSA Exhibition; a third sunny Art in the Park and the varied exhibition programme at East Lodge as well. We do hope that you will find the time to visit our new headquarters and enjoy the facilities there.

Meanwhile enjoy it all and this edition of ArtSpace, and please let us know your views and needs for future issues.

Just write to: The Editor, ArtSpace at East Lodge, or visit the LSA stand at Art in the Park, 2016. n

ISSN: 1754-9612

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12 Curating the Simon Lewty exhibition 14 Jonathan Waller’s Seven Ages of Man drawings 18 Skidmore of Coventry Art news 21 Art news miscellany Local art scene 25 Warwickshire College wins Leamington Society award 26 The Artist’s Fair 2016

The ArtSpace journal was first published in 1998

30 Chairs’ report 31 LSA organisation ArtSpace East Lodge Jephson Gardens Willes Road Leamington Spa Warwickshire CV32 4ER

www.LSA-artists.co.uk

Cover image: A detail from Jonathan Waller's The Seven Ages of Man. See article on page 14

Unless otherwise stated the copyright of the articles and images contained in this journal are the property of the named authors and artists. The LSA endeavours to seek necessary permissions and give appropriate credits. We will always acknowledge in subsequent issues any errors or omissions that are drawn to our attention

LSA in focus

The views expressed by the individual authors featured in this journal are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of ArtSpace or the Leamington Studio Artists

28 LSA members’ work

Social relevance and other gallery trends

by Peter McCarthy

Another Minimalism, Mead Gallery, Warwick University 5 May–25 June 2016

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Reviews ArtSpace journal number 44 Summer 2016 www.LSA-artists.co.uk

It should come as no surprise to regular gallery-goers that the showing of self-referential abstract work has become something of a rarity these days. Narcissistically private or altruistically public narrative work has been the order of the day with little sign of a let-up in the sometimes worthy, sometimes weary exposure of a variety of socially relevant issues and causes that are offered by the artist for our elucidation. With luck or good judgement the identification and championing of the artists who are seen as the driving force behind such movements can do the reputation of the curator who claims to have spotted them no harm at all.

But sooner or later there will be a backlash against each new trend, a change of direction in the pursuit of difference that galleries will sometimes try to influence by labelling the artist as the herald of a new way of doing things or as belonging to a new movement that no one else has spotted. The publicly funded galleries, protected as they are from the pressures of the commercial galleries, ought in theory to be immune to this type of audience manipulation. But since they too have to succeed against different but less punishing odds, their choices will often gravitate by default towards work that has a recognised pedigree or work that they themselves have identified as having marketable attributes by virtue of its contemporaneity or because of its historical significance in the discipline it belongs to.

Equally important as a motivating force is the belief (or more realistically the hope) that these ‘discoveries’ will boost the gallery’s

standing as an institution and the curator’s reputation as someone with discrimination and an instinct for spotting work that has relevance. This has resulted in the development of a tendency to favour work that wears its social conscience on its sleeve – photographs of workers dwarfed by the monumental structures of their darkly satanic mills, for instance, or miners toiling heroically at the coalface. The implication being that the heroism of the subject-matter will lend weight to the work and take care of the need for impact. But there are growing signs that the virtual ban on the showing in our major galleries of unashamedly visual image-making and aesthetically interesting objectmaking might be coming to an end if the Mead Gallery’s summer term exhibition Another Minimalism was anything to go by.

There had been several attempts in the 1970s to reinstate image and object-making as legitimate, contemporary art-making activities.

But it was only with the emergence of the post-modern German artists that two-dimensional image-making came into its own again. Anselm Kiefer’s willingness to pepper his work with historical references was a bold move, coming as it did at a time when traditional modes of expression were regarded as devoid of relevance and where the work of image-makers was subject to a virtual boycott no matter how adventurous their approach might be. With the German painters it was the clarity and challenging boldness of their imagery and the directness and inventiveness of their approach to painting that allowed them to gain relevance. But the revival of image-making that they spearheaded was a short-lived affair

coming as it did at a time when the practice of anyone other than the blue chip artists was being ignored by the major public galleries. What they favoured instead was work that offered the visitor an experience that dealt predominantly with social issues, expressed through a variety of means, media and novel methodologies.

In such a context the Mead Gallery’s showing of Another Minimalism (an international touring exhibition of mainly non-figurative work (from Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Gallery) will have come as something of a surprise and a welcome relief to those who might prefer to see rather than read, sit through or otherwise experience whichever exhibition of contemporary art they happen to be visiting. Reading about the exhibits can often be rewarding, but having to literally read the exhibits as they hang on the wall is often a tediously uncomfortable chore rather than a pleasurable and rewarding tour of what the spectator might justifiably have imagined would be a quintessentially visual experience.

So in this respect, Another Minimalism could not have made a better start than with Olafur Eliasson’s enormous, stunning installation of photogravures that formed a dazzling step by step colour spectrum that dominated the entrance of the show. The scale, scope and quality of his exhaustive examination of what is normally thought of as a stultifying student exercise, never looked anything other than dazzlingly original and utterly professional. It set the tone, the pace and the technical parameters for the rest of the show. And like the best of the rest, the artist achieved a level of formal and technical sophistication

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with this work and with the step by step progression of its content that was truly breathtaking.

Few of the other exhibits were able to match this extraordinary installation for impact but even the lesser works had aspects to them that were refreshingly different. Many of the artists had managed to conjure up imagery through the use of technical means that were often ingeniously devised and deftly applied. Where film or other types of colour projection were used, this was achieved in the best examples without the imagery drifting into the realms of whimsical narrative or standard illustration.

Projected colour was used extensively throughout the show to create a plethora of intriguing visual effects. Ann Jansens’ subtly mesmerising installation, Yellow Rose, which was by far the best of these, appeared to be breathing life into a slowly undulating cloud of yellow mist. Its animation was achieved by nothing more than the simple transmission of seven converging spotlights shining directly towards the spectator through a veil of mist and

thereby creating a disconcerting but surprisingly dramatic pulsating cloud of colour.

The technical sophistication of the piece and the ingenuity and originality of its realisation was nothing less than brilliant. It was the one piece of work that had the impact and matched the professionalism of Eliasson’s colour spectrum. It also had something in common with the other work he had in the show, Ephemeral Afterimage Star, where simple colour projections slowly morphed into unexpected sequences that made the traditional colour chart seem boring beyond words.

And then there were the other, less adventurous works that had more in common with contemporary painting than mainstream installation but with ingredients that sometimes evoked atmosphere and mystery. James Welling’s inkjet print of a winter landscape was the most convincing of these with its shiveringly cold snowscape hovering somewhere between straightforward documentation and enigmatic meditation on the transforming effect

of snow on an otherwise ordinary aspect of the winter landscape.

Inevitably there were works that were not redeemed by the fact that the majority of artists subscribing to this tendency seemed to hail from sunny California rather than, say, rainy Solihull. They might be living in a great place and contributing to the development of a movement that is refreshingly optimistic. They might also have made the right connections but not necessarily the right moves.

But the lasting memory of the show is one of invention, affirmation and unflinching optimism. That’s probably enough in itself.

The Coventry University Drawing Prize 2016

by Dave Phillips

The Lewis Gallery, Rugby, 7 – 23 March 2016

Figure 3. Right: Fetish charcoal, soft pastel and acrylic on paper 148 x 115cm Figure 1. Below: Home pastel on paper 42 x 59cm

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Figure 2. Evening pastel on paper 42 x 59cm

his annual exhibition of drawings of Coventry University students, and staff, past and present, at the Lewis Gallery, Rugby was well worth visiting. It consisted of some 90 works from the minute to the huge, and the work was impressive. The student prizewinner of £400 was Emma Phillips (no relation), whose two pieces Home (Fig. 1) and Evening (Fig. 2) were both evocative, creating a sense of isolation of the figures within seeming brooding, indistinct interiors. There was a sense of expectation in both the works, which while not explicit, existed powerfully. I could see why her works were chosen for the prize. It reassured visitors too that the judges had chosen well and how soundly.

Mind you, there were other works, which were dramatic and sometimes awesome, as in the case of Jonathan Waller’s tribal piece Fetish

(Fig. 3). Here the tribal warrior has the addition of a telly attached to his body. This somewhat reduces the ferocity, and one feels sorry and amused.

In contrast to the works mentioned so far, one could almost miss Clive Richards’ piece, 361 Cubes (Fig. 4), which at first sight seemed small and inconsequential.

It seemed a mere pattern but on closer examination became a puzzle, with a strong optical mystery, so the more one concentrated, the greater the dazzling effect. One marvelled at how a little square drawn judiciously and with variety, in a group, became a hypnotic vehicle that pulsated a message of depth and intrigue, about solidity, flatness and movement, as if an architect’s eye was imagining some extraordinary building.

Then there were some huge drawings, well larger than life, one of which ensnared one in deliberations as to its precise meaning Jump by Annette Pugh (Fig. 5). The image was black and white, of a young girl on a metal bridge about to jump into the water below, on a sunny summer day. Did it portray a joyful mood or was there a more mournful message encoded on the dark patch on the bridge?

Whatever the interpretation, it demonstrated how powerful drawing as a skill, and art form can be.

That, above all, seemed the overall conclusion one could extract, from the imaginative outpouring, contained in this exhibition, consisting of some 90 works. There were some superb pieces, apart from those mentioned.

Picasso, whose drawings are brilliant, once said “You have to begin drawing to know what you want to draw.”

In this exhibition his message was

Figure 4. Left: 361 Cubes giclée print from computer plot 30 x 30cm (original in V&A collection) Figure 7. Below: Study for the portrait of Cathleen graphite on paper 72 x 60cm

5 Reviews Figure 6. Pentimento coloured pencils 73 x 50cm

ArtSpace journal number 44 Summer 2016 www.LSA-artists.co.uk

The residency at Rugby School went to Susan Lee with her drawing Cat’s Dream. The staff exhibition prize at Rugby School’s Lewis Gallery went to Jill Journeaux and the residency at Hinckley and North Warwickshire College went to Natalie Seymour.

Figure 5. Jump ink on paper 244 x 152cm

exemplified. For instance, Gary Izzard’s Pentimento (Fig. 6) is disturbing, where a naked woman sits seemingly calmly, legs crossed, on a plastic chair, viewed frontally, in what appears to be an interrogation room with a tiled floor, and the lower part of trouser legs of a male guard viewable. Her wrists are tied together, and a dignified, fearless, courageous glance is directed at a person, who is clearly questioning her. The most simple of means, coloured pencils on paper, belies a possible frightening message of potential savagery. So complex a narrative, and the artist by drawing, knew what he wanted to achieve, and did so. Another instance, among so many great drawings was Richard Smyth’s Study for the portrait of Cathleen (Fig. 7), which has a wistful, tender quality where the sitter seems to be contemplating some moment in her life, unknown to us.

The quality of drawing as seen in the rendering of hair and the skin on her face and neck is superb.

These examples are typical of the high standard of drawing in the exhibition. I look forward to next year’s exhibition.

An appreciation of Sonia Bublaitis’s work

by Dave Phillips Figure 1. Right: Bouquet (2012) mixed media on Perspex 50 x 50cm Figure 2. Below: Nature’s Energies (2014) mixed media on Perspex 50 x 100cm

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here has she come from is the first question you ask? One understands she has dabbled in art as a child and her mother is a talented artist. Yet, it seems she has appeared magically in the last ten years, in which she went to Warwickshire College on a Fine Art course. Now, it seems she cannot live without making art in various guises. Not only that but her work is becoming known in national circles, with an appearance in the contemporary exhibition Flux. There is no stopping her now. She has zoomed

her way into national consciousness, as well as that of the local scene, with such works as Bouquet (Fig. 1). What then does her work offer the viewer?

Jubilation is a word, which goes a long way to an understanding of Sonia’s painting. Drops of pure colour costume the surface of her paintings on Perspex, often forming constellations, glittering in their tactile splendour, as in Nature Energies (Fig. 2), where maybe a fragment of the sun is hurtling across the abyss in a ferocious and threatening way. In addition her photographic artefacts

probe into the phantasmagorical, such as Healing Hands (Fig. 3), so all you see is dissolving forms that conjure up a world of possibilities. What though do they say, what do they mean, what is the message and what the thinking?

Here we move into the metaphysical, as in the Italian Pittura Metafiscia (1917), Abstraction Lyrique (1947), Abstract Expressionism (early 1940s) and many other such groupings, to include Kandinsky’s writings and those of Mondrian, with his interest in Theosophy in the early years of the 20th century.

Figure 5. Left: Protection (2013) mixed media on canvas 30 x 80cm Figure 4. Below: Telepathy (2014) mixed media on black shiny Perspex 50 x 120cm (Won the People’s Choice Award in Renewal 5 Exhibition at G150)

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with imagery, which will probe our consciousness, and make us think a little more deeply. It is through her profound analysis of self, that she creates strikingly ubiquitous motifs and dazzling pictures, through the hand and the eye, as seen in the works illustrated.

Figure 3. Above: Healing Hands (2013) spiritual photography

ArtSpace journal number 44 Summer 2016 www.LSA-artists.co.uk

So, Sonia has a sound pedigree, for she too begins her work from an idea or an emotion, which she wishes to explore. One sees the energy, the thrill, and gets a sense of speed, of communication, of galvanised impulse, which combines a decorative element with a sense of danger as in Telepathy (Fig. 4). These works have a range of possibilities, and the message lies in your response to the images, which are open ended. There is no one interpretation, but Sonia’s belief in the spiritual which, with the varied media chosen, allow the majesty, the mystery, the unexpected to reinforce that truth, shown in Protection (Fig. 5). Kandinsky helps us to further understand her art, for in his book Concerning the Spiritual in Art, (1912), he wrote, “The true work of art is born from the ‘artist’: a mysterious, enigmatic and mystical creation”.

There is little doubt that Sonia will engage her inner spirit in the future and continue to surprise the world

The art and history of Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum

by Helen Cobby

Below: The Hamman, part of the museum at Leamington Spa today

8 Features ArtSpace journal number 44 Summer 2016 www.LSA-artists.co.uk

The origins of the gallery and museum The Royal Pump Rooms, which now houses the gallery and museum, was first used as Victorian baths and a spa treatment centre. The New Pump Room Baths, as they were originally called, opened in late June 1814. Dr Henry Jephson is probably the most famous of the doctors who came to Leamington Spa to prescribe the waters to his patients. He arrived in 1823, at a time when the town was flourishing as a spa resort. Jephson attracted important visitors to the town including royalty, the aristocracy and celebrated well-known figures such as Charles Dickens and John Ruskin. He was also involved with the 1860s redevelopment of the baths in an effort to save it for the town; it was then that the Turkish bath suite and swimming pool were added.

The architecture of the Turkish bath suite remains and houses part of the museum displays about the Victorian period.

By the 1970s Leamington was one of the few places in the country where hydrotherapy could be received on the NHS and by 1988 it was the only spa in Britain still giving NHS treatments in the original building and still using the waters. However, the future of the building was in serious doubt, and by 1990 it closed down. Between 1997 and 1999 the building was carefully restored. The smaller swimming pool hall became the art gallery, which moved there in 1999 from its old location on Avenue Road.The alcoves that were once used as treatment rooms have been retained and are a prominent architectural feature in the gallery’s main room displaying its permanent collection.

Collecting artworks relating to medical science Since 1999, part of the gallery’s collecting policy has been to acquire artworks relating to medical science and the building’s history as a spa centre. This reflects the history of the building as a centre for nearly two

centuries of changing types of medical treatments, especially hydrotherapy and physiotherapy. Works forming this collection by contemporary British artists include a life-size sculpture

by Marc Quinn and a set of prints collectively entitled The Last Supper

by Damien Hirst. These prints use

Left: The Prodigal Son by Abraham Bloemaert (1615) oil on canvas LEAMG: A344.1950 Below: The Temptation of St. Anthony by David Teniers the Younger, date unknown, oil on panel. From the George Watson Bequest

5 the graphics of pharmaceutical drug packaging to raise questions about our attitudes to food and pharmaceutical medicine, and to the complex relationship between everyday life and religion. A number of the acquisitions were funded through Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum’s Medicate Project, supported by the Wellcome Trust between 1999 and 2005.

An overview of the collection: Some key acquisitions and bequests Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum has over 12,000 objects in its collections, including works of art, craft, sculpture, glass, ceramics, local and social history, numismatics, archaeology and ethnography.

There are more than 1,500 fine art pieces within the collection, many of which have been added to Windows on Warwickshire, an interactive website to help people learn about Warwickshire’s heritage and culture (http://www.windowsonwarwickshire. org.uk). Most of the items have been donated by local people, from the 1860s and continuing to the present day.

One of the oldest artworks in the collection is the oil painting entitled St Peter’s Penitence by Philipe de Champaigne (1602–1674), which depicts the apostle Peter crouching in a rocky landscape. Before him lies a key, the traditional image used to represent his role as keeper of the kingdom of heaven. Above him a Right: Flight of Cloelia from Rome by Cornelius van Poelenburgh (late 1620s) oil on copper.

From the George Watson Bequest

cockerel reminds us of his denial of Christ at the time of the crucifixion.

There are a notable number of 17th-century Netherlandish paintings in the collection, which mostly arrived at the gallery through several important bequests. After World War II, two paintings were acquired from Sir Francis Cook (an exhibition of his Old Master collection had been shown at the gallery a few years before this). One, The Prodigal Son

by Abraham Bloemaert (1564/66 – 1651) was donated by the National Art Collections Fund (now The Art Fund). These acquisitions led in 1953 to the bequest of 55 works by artists of the Dutch, Flemish and English schools from the estate of Captain Mark Field. The most recent bequest

is the 12 Dutch and Flemish paintings from the collector George Watson (1927–2013), which arrived in 2015 via the Art Fund. This bequest is important for Leamington because it extends and fills gaps in the existing collection of Dutch and Flemish works. It contains works by David Teniers the Younger (1610–1690) and Cornelius van Poelenburgh (c.1586/95–1667).

Other highlights of the collection are the paintings by Victorian, Modern and Contemporary British artists, particularly those who were working from the 1840s to the 1960s.

These artists include some of the most distinguished British painters of the twentieth century, such as Vanessa Bell (1879–1961), Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887–1976), Stanley Spencer (1891–1959), and Terry Frost (1915 –2003). Frost was himself born in

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Leamington Spa, and this local link is one of the reasons that Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum has been so keen to acquire his work.

The collection emphasises local creative links where possible. In addition to focusing on artists who lived part of their lives in Leamington Spa, the gallery also has an extensive collection of Warwickshire landscapes and buildings by a variety of local and national artists.

These items include paintings

by Thomas Baker (1808–1864), who was born in Birmingham but moved to Leamington in the 1830s and produced over 800 landscape pictures, many of which depict Warwickshire scenes. The gallery also has lots of works by Frederick Whitehead (1853–1938), including his painting The Leam and Parish Church, Leamington,Warwickshire. Whitehead was born in Leamington and grew up surrounded by strong artistic influences. Other artists featured in the collection, including Colin Moss and Leon Underwood, were based in Leamington during World War II. Camouflage at Leamington Spa during World War II Colin Moss was one of the artists working for the camouflage establishment in Leamington Spa during World War II. The Civil Defence Camouflage Establishment (CDCE) was founded at the start of the war with Nazi Germany to develop camouflage for strategically Left: The Leam and Parish Church, Leamington, Warwickshire by Frederick Whitehead (date unknown) oil on canvas LEAMG: A93.1928 Below: Old Milverton Church with Cattle, Warwickshire by Thomas Baker (1861) oil on canvas LEAMG: A732.1992

important installations like factories, power stations and airfields. Later, in 1941, the CDCE was expanded to include a Naval Camouflage Section and renamed the Camouflage Directorate. At its peak the camouflage establishment employed over 230 staff. Many of them went on to become some of the most influential and distinguished artists and designers of their generation, including Robin Darwin, Edwin La Dell and Christopher Ironside.

From 22 July–16 October, Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum is holding an exhibition on the work of the camouflage staff – often known as camoufleurs – against the backdrop of life on the Home Front in Leamington Spa. This exhibition, entitled Concealment and Deception: The Art of the Camoufleurs of Leamington Spa 1939–1945, is supported by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art and a Jonathan Ruffer Curatorial Grant from The Art Fund. The Jonathan Ruffer Grant helped fund the original research that the curators undertook, including interviewing some of the camoufleurs’ families for memoirs and oral histories.

Above: Camouflaged Factory Buildings (detail) by Colin Moss (1939–1941) pencil and watercolour on paper LEAMG: A1026.2007.

Courtesy of the artist’s estate.

Left: After the Blitz by Colin Moss (1940) pencil and watercolour on paper LEAMG: A745.1992 Courtesy of the artist’s estate.

ArtSpace journal number 44 Summer 2016 www.LSA-artists.co.uk

Helen Cobby is the Research Curator at Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum, where she has been working on the camouflage exhibition (22 July–16 October 2016)

Local art scene

Conclusion The camouflage exhibition is just one of four or so temporary exhibitions that take place at Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum each year. The entire permanent gallery displays are changed every two years, and smaller Spotlight Displays rotate every few months. These exhibits are part of the gallery’s aims of inspiring, learning, entertaining and collaborating with its audiences, providing a programme that is open and inclusive to all.

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Curating the Simon Lewty exhibition: The SIGNificance of Writing

by Alice Swatton

Below: Letter to a Dismissed Servant (2011) inscribed ribbon, acrylic, ink on cotton 19m long presented in 25 cm sq bundle

Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum (29 April – 10 July 2016)

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uring the planning, development and research stages of the exhibition at Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum (LSAG&M) I worked closely with both Simon Lewty and the gallery which represents him; ‘Art First’ to realise the show, The SIGNificance of Writing. It was an extremely enjoyable experience meeting with Simon Lewty for the first time at his studio in Leamington Spa and both seeing and absorbing the beautifully intricate works in their natural surroundings.

I felt extremely lucky to work with an artist who I had heard so much about and who has had such an impact on many artists local to Leamington Spa. Lewty was born in 1941 at Sutton Coldfield but moved to Leamington Spa in 1950 with his family, where he has lived ever since. Lewty also has another home in Swanage, Dorset where he lives during the summer months. He taught at Mid Warwickshire College for many years and tutored many artists based in the local area, and he is still a creative inspiration for many of these artists today.

I visited the artist’s studio during the lead up to the show, and I was able to experience at first hand his most recent works, which were due to be exhibited and seen for the first time by the public. Simon also showed me the first piece of work which he had produced, when he was a student in 1957 The Writing on the Wall and how his work has come full circle when comparing it with his recent works, the Abstract Script series. (Both works were shown in the exhibition at LSAG&M). I was also fortunate enough to glance some of his earlier work when visiting his

studio, which was a great privilege.

A number of works were selected for the exhibition by both Simon and his agent Clare Cooper (Art First).

The majority of works were selected from Art First’s collection and were displayed alongside a small selection of works from Lewty’s own personal collection and the key work which is currently in the permanent collection at LSAG&M, The Men Who Lie in the Road 1991. Lewty describes The Men Who Lie in the Road as a compendium of his work, as it represents all the ideas and images that emerge in many of his paintings and drawings.

This piece depicts Old Milverton, near Leamington Spa, and explores Lewty’s fascination with the hamlet and the local landscape. As a resident of the area myself, growing up near Old Milverton and regularly exploring the landscape as a child and through into adult life, the work has always

appealed to me and triggers fond memories whenever I see the piece.

There is an almost dreamlike quality to the work with the imagined, surreal characters and figures amongst the recognisable surroundings of the local village. This work is also a firm favourite with local residents and is regularly displayed within the main gallery at LSAG&M. The large majority of the works shown within the exhibition were predominantly text based, many of them produced by the artist using tissue paper and a diluted form of PVA glue to layer and build up the surface. Lewty completes the work in sections and then writes and applies the text directly on to this surface. The work has an extremely detailed, intricate and painstaking feel to it. They are often referred to as palimpsests and often likened in their visual appearance to medieval

Alice Swatton is the Senior Curator (Visual Arts) at Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum

sky, luminous spaces where words seem to move like tidal flows or repeat (without repeating) like lapping waves…transient images and marks drift through this space like passing birds or ships, their transience echoed in the fact that sometimes they are appropriated or imported into the work. They are traces of hands other than mine…One of my most memorable discoveries on Swanage beach was a book whose contents had been largely ‘blotted out’ by sea and sand-blasting. For me such a finding of ‘text’ in ‘nature’ is something very moving. My text, then, may be in

the process of change, of becoming something else, through repetition, veiling or partial loss. What that is, is something I work at in order to discover”.

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maps or documents, although it is quite a challenge to date the work as it has an almost timeless feel to it. The text within the pieces comes from an almost dreamlike state (the artist has always recorded his dreams in a notebook, which he keeps by his bed). He also captures snippets of overheard conversations and the ideas are often generated from his own imagination.

Simon summarises the use of text within his work thus: “Texts certainly remain central to my work but now they feel less like ploughed fields and more like sea or

Abstract Script II (2015) ink and crayon on paper 43.75 x 48cm

Left: Mythe (2006) acrylic on tissue paper 98.5 x 99cm

ArtSpace journal number 44 Summer 2016 www.LSA-artists.co.uk

Above: The Men Who Lie in the Road (1991) ink and acrylic on paper 220 x 170 cm (LSAG&M)

Jonathan Waller’s Seven Ages of Man drawings introduced by Bev Murray and Clari Searle To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare Jonathan Waller was given the commission by Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon to produce a series of pictures on the theme of The Seven Ages of Man to hang in the church’s aisle during the international celebrations of 2016.

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he telling of stories, the very creation of them, helps us make ourselves and make our world. At every level, they’re a product of the tension between the social and the psychological, and ultimately the stories that last are the ones that epitomise that tension, striking at the heart of what makes us human. Shakespeare’s ‘The Seven Ages of Man’ is one of these stories.

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PLATE I

¶ The ideas in the ‘Seven Ages’ are as relevant today as when first penned in 1599. The story illustrates human progression to maturity through experiences that remain equivalent to those of the modern day – despite apparent differences in life expectancy and in social development. In Shakespeare’s play As You Like It, the character Jaques relates this tale with his usual despondency. He outlines the miserable human condition as he sees it from the infant ‘mewling and puking,’ to the ‘whining’ schoolboy ‘creeping like snail’ to school until the last scene, the culmination of ageing ending in a finality that is ‘sans everything.’ Yet our reading of Jonathan Waller’s drawing series is a celebration of these stages of life, concluding in a hopeful rendering of the last stage as a dying man holds a baby in his arms – and so life is renewed and continues. ¶ There are, of course, stories within this storyline, narratives that can be told at each of the ‘Seven Ages’. Engaging with each image conjures up a wealth of possibility and meaning. There is also intrigue in exploring the gaps between the stories, and finding other narratives in those gaps. How does the soldier become the judge? And the judge become the pantaloon? You can get lost in the gaps, and in the getting lost begin to find another story. This wealth of possibility and meaning needs to be explored by each individual viewer in relation to their own life, and here we offer our own thoughts on this exciting new interpretation of Shakespeare’s ‘The Seven Ages of Man’.

PLATE II

¶ Waller has chosen his Ages with a consideration of our twenty-first century global context, as he follows Shakespeare’s contention ‘All the world’s a stage.’ He shows us this through Ages considered from other continents, mirroring the human condition cross-culturally, and still yet many of the drawn protagonists could belong to any and every culture.

This interpretation is rather different from Robert Smirk’s ethnocentrically English paintings on the ‘Seven Ages’ painted between 1798–1801.

¶ Waller’s drawings encourage the viewer to experience the ‘Seven Ages’ in new ways, his images drawing on modern-day social mores. The ‘mewling and puking’ baby is no longer ‘in the nurse’s arms’, but in the arms of its mother, as she pulls him into life from the bottom of the birthing pool. This is a modern birth with the support of modern medicine, and displays the vigour of mothers who continue to heroically haul their children into the world and provide the primary care even in the twenty-first century. ¶ The ‘school boy’ has morphed into an Asian girl, who struggles with high expectations for education. It is easy to imagine how she too may go ‘unwillingly’ as ‘snail’ to school, only perhaps this new interpretation is beyond just a school child’s resistance and a desire for freedom and play. In 2014, the BBC reported on suicide in Japan, identifying it as the most common cause of death in children of 10–19 years old. They cited these words from a school boy under the pseudonym ‘Masa’: My school uniform felt so heavy as if I was in armour…I thought about killing myself, because that would have been easier.1

Clari Searle teaches linguistics at Coventry University and is currently working on a PhD in comics stylistics. She also likes to experiment with oil painting and all things visual.

Reference 1. Mariko Oi (2014) Tackling the deadliest day for Japanese teenagers.

BBC news: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/worldasia-34105044 (accessed 22 March 16)

The images and text shown here are reproduced from the Seven Ages of Man catalogue of Jonathan Waller’s series of drawings and are reproduced here by kind permission of the artist and the Lanchester Research Gallery Project, Visual Arts Research, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Coventry University.

ArtSpace journal number 44 Summer 2016 www.LSA-artists.co.uk

¶ The ‘justice’ who ‘plays his part’ is encompassed in a rendering of famous cricket umpire Dickie Bird, as he raises his hand in judgement to dismiss a batsman. He could just as easily be a bishop blessing his congregation with this gesture and perhaps this is the point: the justice is played in many ways within our modern world, but perhaps always with the formality of ‘eyes severe’. These are formal roles and expectations, which are fulfilled in line with society’s own pre-occupations and rules.

Bev Murray is the founder of ‘Stories to be.’ She is also a writer, business psychologist and a coach, who loves stories and working with people to find their own.

¶ The soldier ‘jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel’ has dishearteningly become a child soldier: a child forced to grow up too quickly, a soldier trained in violence, the drawing reveals the child-like confusion and naivety in the boy’s face as he waits for his next orders.

The United Nations currently estimates that there are 25 countries that use child soldiers, numbering approximately 250,000 children. Waller’s drawing makes it all too clear that this is a modern day tragedy and travesty of human rights. We can only wish for better for this young man with all his lost innocence and potential.

PLATE III

Features

¶ Next, we have the lovers, which are drawn from a Bollywood movie, exploring the idea of arranged marriage, of the disparate power and tension between the two parties. Yet, there is also a sense here of romance, of what is desired from a love match, as they embrace ‘sighing like furnace’ with ‘woeful ballad.’ Waller has updated the lovers reference, drawing from the film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (The big hearted will take away the bride) often referred to by its initials ‘ddlj’. Released in 1995 it is one of the most successful Indian films of all-time, as it crosses continents and generations.

It also crosses history connecting marriage to Shakespeare’s day, where most marriages were arranged for the benefit of extended family networks: to forge alliances and to transfer property. In ddlj and in Waller’s drawing, the lovers bridge the apparent gap between the importance of family values and parental consent, and the need to follow one’s heart and achieve a love marriage.

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¶ Waller has transformed the sixth age from Shakespeare’s male ‘lean and slippered pantaloon’ into a homeless woman suffering hardship in falling snow. However, both have recognised that this age is often invisible to wider society, the pantaloon an ageing fool and the crone old and in poverty. Waller’s elderly woman doesn’t have the luxury of slippers or the right to a comfortable old age. Instead she is powerless and desperately bargains on her sign for help: ‘pleas help me Im POOR And SICK I WILL VOTe FOR YOU THANK YOU [sic]’ ¶ This is her final plea and a last hope of improving her life, yet the viewer knows that she is invisible and that the government will not see the sign. In January 2016, Age uk estimated that 42,000 older people were unofficially homeless in England and Wales, a phenomenal number, and yet only an estimate because of their continued invisibility. Waller’s drawing asks us to read the homeless lady’s sign, which is strategically difficult to see; we might strain to read it, but read it we should, both within and without the drawing.

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PLATE IV

¶ So far, many of the Ages detail the roles of ‘the players’ on the world’s stage and these encompass societal expectations, stress and suffering. The drawings appear faithful to Jaques’s despondent human stages of misery.

Yet the image Waller presents in the final Age appears to us a celebration of the human circular experience. It seems to be one of light and hope and ultimately finishes with a sense of freedom from expectation. ¶ The seventh Age shows a dying man on oxygen. While his features are pale and difficult to distinguish, he wears a bright yellow T-shirt that seems to glow free of society’s expectations and stress.

He may be dying but he is also free to consider his life and to enjoy this present moment. In the moment we see, he holds a baby with strength, his hands safely enfolding him. It seems to us that he is considering the circularity and marvels of life, the baby mirroring this too in openmouthed wonder. There is calm in knowing that life goes on and that the story continues. ¶ The strength of Shakespeare’s storyline lies in this circularity. Stories, while they move forward and have direction, do not go in straight lines; they go round in circles, encouraging us to explore more than is immediately presented. This circularity is seen not merely in the presence of the new baby, but in the way the child is clutched to the breast, in the nature of the grasp of the hand. As life appears to be coming to an end the full richness of being alive becomes clear. There is a sense of continuation here; that life goes on in all its wonder and ends with the ultimate human aspiration – that of freedom. n

PLATE V

17 Features

PLATE VI

PLATE VII

ArtSpace journal number 44 Summer 2016 www.LSA-artists.co.uk

The Seven Ages of Man series of drawings offer a reinterpretation of Jaques’s famous speech from the bard’s play As You Like It. Shakespeare was baptised and buried in Holy Trinity Church in Straford-upon-Avon where Jonathan Waller, the Stratford born artist, was also baptised. The drawings are on show in the church until 25 November 2016.

Skidmore of Coventry

by Laurence Curtis Right: Photographic portrait of Francis Skidmore (courtesy of the V&A) Figure 1. Below: The Lichfield Cathedral screen Figure 2. Bottom right: Silver candle sticks with copper appliqué (courtesy of the V&A) Figure 3. Bottom left: Silver gilt Chalice with inlaid enamel.

Original purchased by the Museum of Manufacturing now the Victoria and Albert Museum (courtesy of the V&A)

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T

he first time I came across Francis Skidmore was on an art history field trip to Lichfield Cathedral in the 1970’s. I was there to look at the masonry – but what impressed me more was Skidmore’s metalwork.

I encountered his work many times in churches and buildings across the country and started to look out for him. It interested me that he was from Coventry but when you mention metalworking in Coventry most people think of Alfred Herbert.

Born in 1817, his father was a Birmingham jeweller and silversmith who moved his business to Hertford Street, Coventry in 1822. This was probably to take advantage of the growing watch trade at the time.

In1828 the business moved to Cross Cheaping where they concentrated on restoration and ecclesiastical work. (Fig. 2).

Francis was apprenticed to his father and they were registered as silversmiths together under Francis Skidmore and Son. At this time they were making church plate. The earliest piece known by them is a silver chalice made for St John the Baptist, Coventry and St Giles, Exhall dated 1845. A third chalice was made for St Alkermand, Sheffield in 1847.

They continued to make church plate until 1853 when the business was sold and the father retired. Skidmore opened a business on his own in West Orchard, Coventry. (Fig. 3).

By 1851 he had become secretary of the Coventry Committee for the Exhibition of Works of Industry 1851. This put him in an ideal position to promote his craft in London.

In 1850 Coventry Corporation approved a scheme to fit gas lighting in St Mary’s Hall, which he designed, made and fitted.

He carried out similar works for St Michael’s Church now Coventry Cathedral. He made gas lamps for Holy Trinity church and some fine pews, which are still in use today.

(Fig. 4–5).

He met Sir Gilbert Scott in Coventry when Scott was working on the restoration of Coventry churches.

They formed a working relationship that helped develop Skidmore’s understanding of a style based on the gothic and early medieval motifs.

Combining brass, iron, cast bronze and semi-precious stones, mosaic inlays and appliqués, this mixing of metal alloys and hard stone jewels was to become a speciality and trademark of the man. (Fig. 6).

In 1854 architects Dean & Woodward won a competition to build the University of Oxford Museum. They contracted Skidmore to create a glass roof and supports for the central exhibition court. This was a forerunner of Foster’s central court at the British Museum. (Fig. 7).

The supporting piers comprised of large metal composite columns with gothic vaults, which was a big shift away from Skidmore’s normal work. The construction started in 1857 and working out of his comfort zone, his wrought iron supports failed.

He built a second roof using cast iron (stronger in compression) and the building was completed successfully in 1859.

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS: LAURENCE CURTIS

Figure 6. Below: Jewelled head of the brass column in the Lichfield screen Figure 7. Right: Metal composite columned vaults supporting the glass roof of Oxford University Museum of Natural History

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Major projects included: Lichfield Cathedral – rood screen Hereford Cathedral – great screen The Albert Memorial – spire

Figure 5. Top: A gas lamp stand converted to electricity in Holy Trinity Church, Coventry Figure 4. Above: A drawing from one of Skidmore’s pattern books (courtesy Coventry History Centre)

Figure 8. Below left: The Lichfield Cathedral rood screen Figure 9. Below: A detail of the Great Hereford Screen situated in the Victoria and Albert Museum

ArtSpace journal number 44 Summer 2016 www.LSA-artists.co.uk

In 1857 Scott took over as architect for Lichfield Cathedral when he entered designs for the renovation of the building. In the mid to late fifties Skidmore received designs for a screen. He started work on the first of his three cathedral screens in 1859.

It is often cited as a forerunner of the Great Hereford Screen. He made a pulpit, lectern gates and railings for the choir – all still in use. He also made gas lighting, which is now mostly removed. (Fig. 8).

The Great Hereford Screen must have been in the workshop at the same time and was finished in time to be exhibited in London at the exhibition of 1861. (Figs. 9 and 10).

He achieved national and international recognition when he created the Great Hereford Screen, to Scott’s design, which was larger and more complex than the Lichfield screen. It was removed in 1967 and acquired by the Herbert Art Gallery who had intended for it to be the

Features

The scale of the Oxford project and the multiple projects he was taking on showed Skidmore needed bigger premises - so in 1859 he took on a factory in Alma Street. The factory covered three quarters of an acre.

Accounts of the factory describe it as very large and complex – with showrooms, two drawing offices, a photography studio and metal workshops including an electrotyping room for plating base metal with gold and silver.

By this time he was not only working on large-scale national and ecclesiastical work but had a pattern book for more ‘off the peg’ domestic ware including gas and electric chandeliers, door locks, weather vanes, railings, fire surrounds, and domestic furniture. The move to Alma Street was a blessing for Coventry, providing employment for ‘out of work’ ribbon and silk weavers.

It marked the beginning of an intensely productive period. He would be engaged in three major projects, working in partnership with Gilbert Scott. They were beginning to form one of the greatest artistic partnerships of the Victorian period.

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centrepiece of a new industrial museum which was never built.

It remained in packing cases for a couple of decades until it was gifted to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The 14,000 pieces were unpacked and laid out on a warehouse floor in London. Each piece was carefully restored and assembled to become one of the V&A central exhibits.

(Fig. 11).

Work started on the Albert Memorial in 1866 after a false start.

He had to scrap a large part due to the unsuitability of the specified materials. This must have cost him dearly. (Fig. 12).

Figure 10. Below: A colour plate from the 1861 exhibition catalogue (courtesy of Coventry History Centre) Figure 11. Above: The Hereford Screen at the V&A Figure 12. Top right: Detail of the Albert Memorial

To help towards the additional costs, Parliament donated £4,000 and thirty bronze cannons, captured in the Crimean War. Skidmore was unhappy as he was of the opinion that it would be cheaper to have new alloy rather than have to process the cannons. He was to produce a marvel of the age – but still lost money on it.

He was reputed to be a poor businessman putting quality and craftsmanship before cost. Destroying expensive work if it had a single fault.

Skidmore was forced to sell the works and moved to a smaller site in Meriden. It did not have the capability to take on large-scale work, but he did produce the Salisbury Cathedral screen. He struggled on for a number of years and retired with failing eyesight and was partially disabled in a road accident.

Receiving the Freemans’ Seniority Pension in 1894 – he lived in reduced circumstances in Eagle

Street, Coventry. He died in 1896 and to show the city’s gratitude, the Mayor of the Corporation raised a subscription for his funeral and he was buried in London Road Cemetery. (Fig. 13).

His obituary was profuse, listing his many great achievements and showing a real pride in a man who put Coventry’s artistic and manufacturing prowess on the national and international stage.

He was still well thought of in 1935 when The Midland and Coventry Evening Telegraph gave him the title of one of Coventry’s great worthies. As the love of Victorian values in art and all things declined, so did his reputation. In recent years it has been revived. However in his hometown, which he did so much to help and promote, he is relegated as merely an ‘interesting character’.

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Art news miscellany

by Dave Phillips

Figure 2. Below: White Bloom Triple (2016) print 15 x 15cm

This column brings selected art news

Figure 4. Above: Leamington Houses (2011) Acrylic on canvas 70 x 50cm

Figure 1. Right: Because I Am (2011) 41 x 73cm and far right: Come Alive (2015) 40 x 60cm photography backgrounds and effects blended in Photoshop

frames. David Troughton’s (Fig. 3) recent work called No Vibration No 4 is showing which recalls vividly, space exploration, throwing in images of Leonardo da Vinci for good measure, and quotations of T.S.Eliot. They are works of distinction imbued with ingenuity. One turns to Clive Engwell’s comforting image (Fig. 4), as a contrast. Here, with superlative ease, he brings into play the venue of the National Bowls Tournament

Greens in Archery Road, greener than green, and domesticity, in the form of a variety of differing houses, which characterize Leamington Spa’s architectural profile, set against a blue sky, bluer than blue. Its overall simplicity conceals a drama, as represented by the eleven black balls and the jack, the struggle and essence of the game, extending by implication to that of the unseen inhabitants, whose lives are concealed, in the made up beauty of architectural historicism.

Apart from the variety of excellent work shown, what would be helpful as well, is if a few more artists or art lovers could spare the odd day or half day on a reasonably regular basis, to help with the shows and the running of our HQ. Join the gang and begin to live a little, sing a little, dance a little, and know you are at the centre of the art world in Leamington Spa. It is a hub of fun, and serious conversation, it is the ‘Scene’, come and join us.

21 Art News

1. May, June, July 2016 have been fruitful months for the local art scene.

LSA has done its bit with a variety of exhibitions at East Lodge, Jephson Gardens over the last two months or so. As it is becoming better known as a venue, more visitors are evident, enjoying the work on show, and buying it accordingly: for instance, the work of Bryan Kelly, magnificent in its colourful articulation, making the world a happier place; Helen Ballantine with her variety of poetic insights into landscape painting; Kim and Paul Ingvar (Fig. 1) whose photographic innovations never cease to surprise, ranging from the abstract, to portraiture presentation which is out of this world; Sueli Moreton with her ever-seeking exploration of the possible, in a variety of subjects. Then there is Leslie Rucinski (Fig. 2) with his extraordinarily sensitive photographs of single flowers, which have a poetic quality and intensity, which is difficult to forget, set in amazing

Figure 3. Right: No Vibration, No 4 (2016) mixed media/canvas 120 x 90cm

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2. Leamington Spa with a population of 49,491, as of the census of 2011, is blessed with many galleries and many artists. Two commercial galleries of note are Deasil Gallery, Oxford Street, which offers a reliable and valuable changing exhibition scene, every three weeks, of local artists of note, and Reload Gallery, Augusta Place whose latest exhibition of contemporary urban art is dazzling.

With its talent of contemporary artists, mainly from abroad, providing thought provoking imagery which glitters, provokes and writhes with gold and silver surfaces, and sweetness and humour is well worth visiting. Three others are Whitewall, and Castle Gallery both in Regent Street, and Arts Trail, Windsor Street, which recently showed drawings of children from Syria as part of a charitable endeavour, which were most moving, showing the misery of it all. Warwick Arts in Royal Priors appear to have closed, at least, for the time being. Then, of course, there are two non-commercial galleries: the LSA Gallery at East Lodge Jephson Gardens, offering superb work at very competitive prices, and ever changing shows of seriously minded committed artists. Nor should one overlook, Althorpe Studios and Gallery, which is prepared to host artists experimental in practice and fresh out of college, such as the recent show of Diana Oancea and Chiara Grant, an extraordinarily well qualified artist, who has produced an interactive art board game, which has therapeutic possibilities, for those with disabilities and also includes children. Both artists are from Coventry School of Art. The show was most arresting.

Diana, who came from Romania to study Fashion, having been a criminal lawyer there, won prizes but has turned her considerable talents to digital art, which many see as a broad future avenue of development. She writes: Digital art is the future…and the future starts now”. The work was eye catching.

3. The Leamington Gallery and Museum is our town’s gallery, which has a wonderful permanent collection of art treasures, some of significant historical importance.

It has flourished recently with its publication of What’s On, listing

its many activities, which are truly impressive, and solidly supported

by FLAG (Friends of Leamington Art Gallery). There is also a programme of art exhibitions held in the smaller gallery, inviting artists of national reputation to exhibit their work. The current one of Simon Lewty’s work is reviewed in this issue of ArtSpace.

The next one from July to October 2016, The Art of the Camoufleurs of Leamington Spa in World War II will be a most exciting show. Nevertheless, unfortunately and sadly, there seems to be little or no room here for our own local artists of talent to be able to be recognised for the enormous time and energy which they put into their work. Consequently, there seems to exist a strong current of justifiable resentment amongst the 500 or so members of local Art Associations, (of which the gallery staff are aware and sensitive to), who are for some reason prevented and seemingly, actually excluded, from presenting their work in what they might regard as their own ‘Community Artists’ Gallery’, within The Leamington Gallery. LSA, the mother of local art associations, with its publication ArtSpace feels that the time has come for them perhaps, to be given more presence, in their own local authority premises, other than the biennial West Midlands Open, and suggest, at least a Royal Leamington Spa biennial, and even other shows.

LSA represents a vast mass of talent and after all, they and their loved ones and supporters, contribute to the upkeep of these facilities through their council tax contributions, and would almost certainly fill the venue with people who would respond positively to what would be shown. It might not be cutting edge art but it will be wanted, as it will come from studios, palettes and canvasses et al, by the people for the people, creating a warmth of identity for us locals. No sneering at effort need take place, for it will be the art for the locals, art for all, easy to understand and digest. In fact these periodic exhibitions would be loved, appreciated and swooned over. Furthermore, such events could be arranged and paid for, so there is no expense to the gallery itself, and even a handsome profit realised for the gallery with their permission.

Such shows, would be managed by LSA, a highly professional association

itself, at no additional cost to the local authority or the taxpayer. What a wonderful example of support for and by the local community. It is time for a change in this respect, we suggest, and discussions should take place accordingly, most artists would agree, with the gallery manager, so the mutterings of dissatisfaction can be appeased. A formal letter perhaps should be sent raising this issue, and with love on both sides, resolved amicably. In the meantime the Gallery’s, Friday Focus Talks at 1pm have been a huge success. The variety, the passion of the speakers, and the reception by the local art community has fostered an excitement, which is to the benefit of the town and its environs. It has been a model for local art groups and LSA identifies with this achievement, and the Gallery itself, as the reviews of its Collection in this issue exemplify.

4. We have had the impressive Coventry University foundation year and fine art degree shows which opened on Friday 27 May. The individual exhibits were well organised and varied in character, providing a fruitful and enjoyable experience. Warwickshire College Foundation Year Show, opened on Monday 6 June, for ten days, where in various disciplines: Fine Art, Fashion, Graphics, Jewellery, Furniture, Industrial Design, Jewellery, the students produced some stunning work: imaginative, thoughtful, witty and skilled. Some were quite brilliant.

It was a most impressive show and congratulations to students and tutors alike. The colleges, of the degree courses, which the students are going onto, stretched from London in the South, to Falmouth in the West, and Glasgow in the North, and covered the whole country, which is a fair indication of their worth. This was followed by the Dip HE Fine Art Exhibition from the 20–30 June, again a varied show, which started with a fashion display, where the students had not only made the garments but modelled them too. The rest of the show, which covered many disciplines, revealed the students were not only imaginatively adventurous but had learnt many skills, and their technological understanding was most advanced. The statements made by these students supporting their work,

as stated in the exhibition booklet are searching and philosophical. The presentations become accordingly, more intelligible and in some cases quite moving. There is a high level of intellectual discourse, which illuminates what at first sight seems sometimes obscure, making for a good show. Clearly, these students are ready for their final year, as shown through their work, when they will be awarded their degrees by the University of Birmingham.

Figure 5. Ophelia’s Ghost © Kristin and Davy McGuire

exchange of delight in the experience of giving and receiving visual pleasure.

There is a follow up in the Autumn, at Warwick Arts Centre on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 October 2016. A full appreciation of the work shown will be forthcoming in the next issue of ArtSpace.

7. The Coventry Open 2016 at the Herbert Gallery 14 May–12 June consisted of 79 works, selected from 258 entries, with the winning prize of £1,000 awarded to Gerard Mermoz, by a panel of four judges, for Paysage, a small work of oil and acrylic, with trees in a variety of greens, around a lake, with a red poppy in the foreground. A striking work, with the red of the poppy picked up in trees in the distance beyond the work. An evocative and subtle piece with just a hint of what might have happened there.

“And this, and so much more?–” (T.S. Eliot).

10. Jane Williams of Leamington Spa has recently held a retrospective exhibition of her work, which showed her development over a ten year period, as an artist in residence for Leamington Music. To mark the occasion she has published a book which illustrates her work. It is a stunning achievement of identification with music, the players, and imagery she creates, that is constantly offering new ways of looking.

It is obtainable from her and is well worth buying.

11. The Turner Prize of 2016 will be held at Tate Britain this year, from 17 September 2016–8 January 2017, and not farmed out to other parts of the country. Of the four artists selected three are women. Please let them run the world as men have done an awful job! The winner will be announced on December 2016, and will get £25,000 and the runners up £5,000 each. One contender attracting a great deal of attention is Anthea Hamilton. She is a sculptor whose pièce de résistance is an idea, taken from the Italian designer Pesce’s, whose entrance to a skyscraper (never constructed) consisted of a latticed brick wall structure, in the form of a huge naked bottom, where the space between the legs constitutes the entrance! The other three are likewise sculptors: Helen Marten’s

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ArtSpace journal number 44 Summer 2016 www.LSA-artists.co.uk

6. Warwickshire Open Studios from 18 June–3 July spread out across the county like a spider’s web, bewitched us with its enormity, showing what a vast county it is and what a huge range and number of artists are busy in their studios. Over 250 artists took part across 128 venues, which at first sight might seem overwhelming.

Yet, potential consumption figures dispel that notion, in the form of a population of 886,329 in the county, to include Coventry, to become a light ripple in consumerism. In any case, it is not an economic exercise (although the sale figures are impressive), but a cultural one, where there is an

9. Grayson Perry’s exhibition, The Vanity of Small Differences at the Herbert Art Gallery, consisted of six large tapestries, which follows the story of a working class boy, who becomes a technocrat at university, becomes middle class and ends up dead in a car crash. It has the flavour of a morality tale from Hogarth, concerning questions of class and taste both amusing and pointed, in an art form that is seeing something of a revival, from 22 April–3 July. It was well worth seeing.

Art News

5. Compton Verney Gallery has recently held a topical and fascinating exhibition, Shakespeare in Art, 19 March–19 June, which was a historical survey, and so much more, of individuals such as Boydell, who, by opening a gallery in 1789 devoted to commissioned work from Fuseli and other artists of note, did so much to promote the Bard. There was even a digital reconstruction of the gallery in 1796 giving one the experience of actually being in the gallery itself, surrounded by pictures and prints. Another experience to note was Ophelia’s Ghost, (Fig. 5) inspired by Millais’s painting in Tate Britain of her drowning. In this instance an installation, through a projection, accompanied by the music of Tomorrow is St.Valentine’s Day, presented an incredibly lifelike experience. One sees the figure struggling in water, bubbles escaping from her mouth, her body moving in agitated form, as if she seeks to breathe, but ultimately fails, as her body disappears below.

It was an extraordinary lifelike event and gripping.

8. If you missed that opportunity you will have the Rugby Open 2016, from 25 November–24 January 2017 to look forward to, and the Leamington Open 2016–2017 when it is announced. LSA members are entitled to submit to both shows and the Coventry Open next time.

installations whose work consists of various objects made from twigs, concrete, cardboard; Michael Dean provides three dimensional letter type objects of various materials; Josephine Pryde, where technology features and “nail varnished hands grip iPads”.

Quite a feast and a recognition of the quality of sculptural activity at the moment.

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12. This is the year of Tate Modern where massive expansion will be unveiled, allowing much greater exhibition space, which will be doubled, half of solo rooms occupied by female artists. This development, alongside the St Ives and Liverpool Tates, which Alan Bowness, the previous Director initiated, is the plan of Nicholas Serota, who started his career as Director at Tate Britain in 1988. It is he and his colleagues, and others such as Saatchi who have significantly changed the nature of opinion in this country, so that modern art is all the rage, though overbold manifestations still raise eyebrows. What more fundamental message could you want than: Art is Life, and Life is Art? Yes, the extended Tate Modern offers a variety of experiences and the only way you can judge is to go there. The critics vary in their evaluations, some thinking the architecture has somehow belittled the art, and tamed it, so that it is made to seem secondary. Others think that the full fruit of contemporary art is displayed so that you can gorge on its splendour, with its variety and richness. I was struck by the wonderful views in this multi-storey building, with its generous space, and inventive architectural presence.

When you go expect a fair amount of walking as you gradually explore the enormity of it all.

13. Did you know that Rodin’s museum and sculptures in Paris, have been fully and beautifully renovated, over a period of three years, for the first time since his death in 1917 at the cost of £11.4m, and is now open to the public? Did you know that Michelangelo’s marble 17 foot David (1501–1504) at the Accademia Gallery, Florence has recently been cleaned and checked, as it is twice a year, as are other iconic works, which may help explain quite rightly, why we pay to go into Italian art galleries?

14. Neurologists at Geneva University have explained one aspect of Francis Bacon’s genius.

In the journal Mind, 2016 they have published a paper, stating that he may have been suffering from dysmorphopsia, associated with drink and drug abuse. It causes sufferers to see images that flicker and twist, as seen in works such as Three Studies of Lucian Freud of 2013, sold for £97m, and Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards, sold in 2014 for £55m.

Did someone really pay these prices for works which were the result of a neurological disorder? Dangerous ground, for was El Greco’s work the result of a distortion of the eye, van Gogh’s colour and contortions, a result of drink and syphilis? Hardly, and once you tread that path, you might as well say all artists are neurotics, or simply mad, anyway!

The latest acquisition of a rare, unfinished self-portrait of the mid80s, by Freud, will be viewable in June at the National Portrait Gallery.

It was acquired, as part payment of £559,773 in lieu of inheritance tax.

Not many of his self-portraits are viewable in public collections.

15. The Royal Academy Summer Show showing 1,240 works, opened on the 13 June and continues until the 21 August. The chances of acceptance are whimsical, as it is open to all.

Of the 12,000 submissions, 11,000 were rejected. In addition RAs are free to submit 6 works, as of right!

One of the features was the notion of including duos or two artists working together, of which there were twenty, who were invited to show, including Gilbert and George, and the Chapman brothers. I enjoyed my visit, as there was an enormous variety of art to enjoy, and each room seemed different in character.

16. Conceptual Art in Britain 1964– 1979, Tate Britain, is on till the 29 August. This exhibition includes a full examination of the contribution that Art-Language played in this movement, which emerged from Coventry Art School. Waldemar Januszczak, art critic of The Sunday Times gave the exhibition short shrift by declaring that he goes to exhibitions to look and see, not read. Yet, it was one, which repays study, for it brought out the need to

translate what we see into words. It also questioned the nature of artistic practice and opened it out to a whole range of possibilities, including the use of language, which is now an acceptable genre.

17. The annual BP Portait Exhbition, at the National Portrait Gallery, London (23 June–4 Sept) was full of the most amazingly skilled representations, sometimes breath taking in their fluency. Oddly enough it was a small, somewhat slight portrait by Clara Drummond, born in Edinburgh, who studied modern languages at Cambridge, who went on to study at The Prince’s Drawing School, who won the £30,000 prize.

The judges, to include Jenny Saville, praised it for: “its subtle, enigmatic nature, and the indelible impression the artist’s skill makes on the viewer.”

Oddly enough it has the flavour of an early Lucian Freud portrait!

This was the 37th year of the Award, and it received 2,557 entries from 80 countries. So, all artists who paint portraits should think about submitting, for who knows who will win, or even get the second or third prize?

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ArtSpace’s major sponsor wins a Leamington Society award

by Clive Engwell

Below: Inside the new airport style entrance foyer Bottom: Warwickshire College, new 'Grand Entrance'

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ArtSpace journal number 44 Summer 2016 www.LSA-artists.co.uk

makeover completed in 2015.

The college itself has over 20,000 students enrolling each year across its six centres, making it one of the largest in the country. It has recently become only the fourth further education college in the UK to be granted degree awarding powers in its own right and has received outstanding (grade 1) performance

by OFSTED. As a part-time student in the School of Arts over the last seven years I have witnessed the most remarkable transformation of the

25 Local art scene

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was delighted to hear the news that LSA’s ArtSpace principal sponsor, the Warwickshire College – now called the Royal Leamington Spa College – had recently won a prestigious award from the Leamington Society.

Every two years the Leamington Society presents awards to local projects in order to recognize achievements in improving the physical environment within Royal Leamington Spa. Judged by a panel of experts the 2016 awards ceremony took place on Thursday, 14 July 2016, and the award, regarded as Leamington's ‘Oscar’, was received by John Vickery, director of estates for the college. The nomination was for improvements to the building and the restoring of the prestigious entrance and atrium, to which the public has access. The award was made to the Warwickshire College for its superb £12 million

main six story building at the campus.

Funded under the Government’s SFA initiative to support the further education sector, the project, costing around £12 million, was officially opened by Justin King CBE, former CEO of Sainsburys at an event to which we were all invited.

The two and a half year refurbishment plan by building firm Speller Metcalf was carried out in such a way that it allowed the building to remain occupied and continue to be used throughout the project. It was a remarkable achievement and the result is a stunning modern building both externally and throughout with a new airport style entrance that forms a magnificent focal point for all of the college administration and student needs. Well worth a visit!

Local architect Chris Ballantine of Robothams in Warwick was responsible for the design of the scheme in which all of the existing buildings were completely overhauled.

This included the removal of all asbestos and the recladding of every building with a thermally efficient façade as well as solar screens fitted to reduce the running costs and create an improved teaching environment.

The new and elegant entrance foyer forms a pedestrian artery to all of the adjoining college buildings.

Arriving at the college is an extremely impressive experience walking into a double height space, opening up views of student services, the college shop, refectory and bistro and a host of impressive meeting rooms and exhibition areas. A vast number of upgraded and new ‘high-tech’ teaching areas have also been created throughout.

Leamington Spa is a handsome town with planning and architecture of which we are so justly proud.

However we must not overlook those buildings which are slightly ‘off-centre’. This project, updating our already highly successful college clearly deserves this award.

Credit should also be given to the Leamington Society for its vision in ensuring that improving the environment in our town is properly recognized. Also, as Justin King said at the launch, “Our students deserve this…investments like this are all about giving our students the best chance of success”.

The Artists’ Fair 2016

by Mark Tilley

Figure 1. Above: A general view of the exhibition Figure 2. Below: Monte Amiata with Villa Banfi watercolour 50 x 60cm

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n Knowle Village Hall on 6, 7 and 8 May Solihull Artists’ Forum ran their Artists’ Fair. This event is in its 5th year, the idea being to make accessible to a local clientele a selection of affordable, professional level work. Over the three days the artists are able to be conspicuously present and it is possible to keep up a steady stream of refreshments working as a team.

The motivation behind this initiative comes from the hearts of the artists. We all like to see our work

on display side by side with others.

We all like to talk about our own work and then discuss the rest. If we can extend this conversation with a listening responsive public then that is a bonus. Of course there is always a chance we may sell a piece. That is the accolade which belittles the reward in cash.

In previous years we have been able to rent a set of good solid screens which arranged in serried ranks accommodated all the work, large and small. This year we were

limited to an outfit of more portable white table top screens. Although limiting in some ways this resulted in a much more open display and welcoming atmosphere. People could move around better and it was generally voted as an improvement.

The two and three dimensional work complemented each other and the card and print displays became an integrated part of the show. (Fig 1).

Each member was invited to submit ten pieces and 20 out of 30 members responded. This resulted

Figure 4. Below: For the Roses mixed media 25 x 25cm Figure 3. Bottom: Out of Cry stitched textile 20 x 15cm

Figure 5. Below: Sixteen Shades of Grey mixed media 40 x 40cm

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Perhaps after 5 years at this venue and at the same time of year it is time to move on. Our next big event will be our Open Studios on September 23, 24 and 25 this year.

Solihull Artists’ Forum (SAF) was initially set up in 2001 to consult and work with Solihull MBC when the Borough was engaged in establishing an Arts strategy. SAF lives on as a dynamic organisation of professional visual and contemporary craft-based artists who work to raise the profile of arts in the Solihull area. SAF aims to offer a support network that facilitates opportunities.

It encourages the professional development of members and promotes their work through external exhibitions. Visit www.solihullartistsforum.co.uk

ArtSpace journal number 44 Summer 2016 www.LSA-artists.co.uk

collaborative ways of working. They have put together some exciting pieces and the fun is to guess who did what. (Fig 5).

We could have done with more 3D work but Usha’s pots and Mark’s sculpture raised the exhibition to another level.

We only took 10% commission on artists’ sales and made but a small loss on the hall rent. The footfall was 200–300 as previous years but we could always do with more signage.

Local art scene

in a diverse, varied and most eclectic assembly of work including 2D, 3D, painting, textiles, craft and sculpture.

The work was of a high standard and full of life which demanded attention all around the hall and provided exciting contrasts. It was commented that there were rather a lot of flowers.

Understood, they appeal to the artist, stay still whilst you paint them and they do sell.

All the artists deserve a mention but I can only pick out a few.

Ivona Carins applies her watercolour with panache and does not treat her painting as anything too precious. So she sings aloud her memories of warm Tuscany in rich flowing layers. (Fig 2).

Jackie Mackay’s accomplished textile tribute to Joni Mitchell’s lyrics “My dreams with the seagulls fly out of reach, out of cry”, says so much in a very small space. (Fig 3).

Pamela Gregg is a versatile artist who has the ability to identify her concept. Having done so she will select from a wide range of media and then tailor that medium to embody her concept. (Fig 4).

Avril, Jackie, Stephanie and Maureen have been developing

Clive Engwell presents more work of LSA members

Below: The Wanderers (1992) oil on canvas 25.5 x 30.5cm

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Bottom: Setting Sun (2013) oil on canvas 25.5 x 30.5cm

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he five members featured in this issue were each recommended to me by their friends and colleagues in the Leamington Spa art community.

By coincidence they provide a fascinating mix of genres. There are two fine art painters, one sculptor, one photographer and Libby January, a talented artist, who professes to use any media that suits her purpose and her approach is to see what happens! Please enjoy these local works of art.

Below left: Playing Koi (2015) pastels on paper 50 x 70cm Below right: Macro Hard (2016) tracing paper, pastels and crayons on paper 50 x 50cm

Libby January Libby will need little introduction to our members since her work is well known, exciting and innovative. Her definition of what she does as an artist is that she moves between observation and abstraction. She says that she loves all media and enjoys experimenting with surfaces, scraping back and covering up, opacity and translucency.

She uses pastels, acrylics, crayons, tracing paper, letters, glue, glitter and as Libby says “colour” of course!

Trained as a teacher Libby returned, late in her career, to Warwickshire College of Art, taking diploma courses in both Fine Art and Print Making.

She was lucky enough to have a large abstract pastel accepted and hung in the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition. She is a member of the Pastel Society and a regular exhibitor in the Mall Galleries in London.

It’s inspiring work Libby!

Anna Phillips Anna Brain – now called Anna Phillips – is a fine artist, a graduate of Coventry College of Art and an art teacher of significant repute. She was Head of Art at Rugby High School, a position she held for 25 years.

Anna’s delightful paintings have been shown in a vast number of prestigious exhibitions including the Royal Academy in 1986. This amazing experience was repeated in 1992 and, in 1993, she had three pictures accepted and subsequently had work shown every year until 1997.

A founder member of the Rugby Artists Group former Chair of the AMA and member of LSA, Anna now confesses to be less active and less productive following a decision to take a year off recently.

Two of her splendid paintings are featured here and she has revealed that she is about to get busy once again saying that artists don’t really retire. We certainly hope not!

Below: Planted woodland on damp October day, Yorkshire Wolds Bottom: Not a Banksy Graffiti in corner of preserved iron and steel works, Germany

Below: Cat and Mice (2006) breeze block 34 x 44 x 18cm Bottom: Sunfish (2016) cherry wood 28 x 29 x 3cm

Below: Dahlia (2016) acrylic on canvas 53 x 68cm Bottom: Allium (2015) acrylic on canvas 51 x 62cm

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Helena Godwin

Helena is a community artist who has been working in and around Coventry, Leamington and the Shetlands since the early 1990s. She is a practiced sculptor and teacher running workshops in a variety of media for both children and adults.

Carving in a ‘breezeblock’, is a fascinating and low-cost medium and the results, shown here, can be quite stunning. The sea has also been an enduring theme of Helena’s and recently she has been carving fish and waves in both stone, wood and plaster. Her work, Shetland Dolphins, was accepted by the Royal Society of Artists at the Birmingham Museum Open and was exhibited in the Spring of this year.

Helena’s lovely work can be seen in various exhibitions around the Midlands including our own Art in the Park.

Robert Shuttleworth Robert is a geographer who makes photographic images. He says that his work focuses on the way that humans have influenced and changed the landscape. His travels reveal that the mark made by mankind Is to be found everywhere.

Robert turns his lens on empty landscapes caused by human clearances, planted woodlands, industrial remains and derelict places which as Robert says are often the haunt of the graffiti artists and urban explorer.

It is within this context that he captures the beauty made by such activities to produce his fascinating and exciting works of Photo Art.

Jane Williams It is so very nice to feature the work of Jane Williams, a local artist from Wormleighton, who works in both acrylic and oils and who is clearly besotted by her garden flowers. As a natural extension of her love of flower arranging, Jane is now arranging and painting flowers on canvas.

Jane has been painting for the past 12 years exhibiting her lovely floral images in the Warwickshire Open Studios and around Leamington Spa.

Chair’s report

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LSA in focus ArtSpace journal number 44 Summer 2016 www.LSA-artists.co.uk

eamington Studio Artists have been having a very busy few months. Since the last ArtSpace we have been able to offer our members many new opportunities.

Firstly, securing East Lodge in Jephson Gardens as a venue for studio space and gallery. This was a lot of hard work for Clive Engwell (previous Chair) and our trustees even before I took over as Chair. Once I was Chair we were able to continue to push forward and secure this brilliant venue that we can now call LSA’s ‘home’.

A big thank you needs to go to Tony Cartwright and David Haedicke who worked very closely with the council to ensure everything was legally suitable for the LSA. In February we opened the doors of East Lodge and filled the studio space very quickly. East Lodge has 4 studio spaces, and two rooms that are used for gallery space. Morgan Forth has been doing an incredible job as manager, and worked very hard in the early stages, including painting walls, to the now full management of the venue. A huge Thank You to Morgan for your timeless volunteer work, as well as to his brilliant team of volunteers who are helping to run the East Lodge gallery space.

If you have any questions regarding East Lodge rental and exhibitions please contact Morgan on: eastlodgemanager@lsa-artists.co.uk I have further wanted to offer our members some new and different exhibiting and selling opportunities.

In May we organised an art fair at the Town Hall. With 13 members exhibiting and selling their art, it was felt that this was a great success and we will be looking to repeat in the future. Thank you to Alison Chantrey

for organising this brilliant fair. If you would be interested in taking part in this in the future please keep checking your email and newsletters for updates.

We are now very busy with organising a marquee that will be part of the wonderful Art in the Park.

The marquee will be dedicated to Mo Finnesey who was the brains behind the original Art in the Park 3 years ago. Additionally we will be focusing on art as therapy. This year Art in the Park will be taking place on 7–8 August and we have our fingers crossed for a sunny weekend!

Please stop by either the LSA marquee or East Lodge to catch up on any upcoming information or re-sign up as a member.

Finally we are hoping to have an annual show to replace our very popular Summer Exhibition. This will be in the autumn and more details will follow.

Kate Livingston Chair, Leamington Studio Artists.

For contact and information: chair@lsa-artists.co.uk membership@lsa-artists.co.uk www.artinpark.co.uk

LSA organisation Leamington Studio Artists is a registered charity. It exists for the benefit of the general public and its primary objectives are to promote and foster the interest in, and appreciation of, all forms of the visual arts in Leamington Spa and surrounding area.

It is also committed to assisting all its artist members by encouraging professional practice in all aspects of the visual arts.

LSA corporate sponsors

Artists

Our purposes and vision:

The work of LSA As an established organization, LSA is an integral part of the visual art scene in Leamington Spa and its environs: we offer opportunities for exhibitions for both individuals and groups of artists; we hold regular events such as Art in the Park; we facilitate scanning, printing and framing for our members, as well as providing studios.

Chair Kate Livingston chair@lsa-artists.co.uk Treasurer Tony Cartwright treasurer@lsa-artists.co.uk Membership Secretary Alison Chantrey membership@lsa-artists.co.uk Trustees James Callaghan jim.c@btinternet.com Dave Phillips d.phillips@abdab.com David Haedicke dhaedicke@gmail.com Soolie Burke Morgan Forth

The production of ArtSpace LSA produces a highly regarded and pictorially exciting journal in the form of ArtSpace, thrice yearly.

This is posted and included in the members’ small annual subscription.

The contents include, feature articles on the work of individual members; reviews of exhibitions locally and further afield; news about the art world in general and book reviews.

ArtSpace team Chair Clive Engwell Editorial Adviser Dave Phillips d.phillips@abdab.com Art Director Clive Richards Production Malcolm Waterhouse

Special thanks Magenta

STUDIO

To promote artistic endeavour and professional practice LSA’s membership embraces artists working at all levels, from talented top quality professionals to beginners, and in a variety of forms: painters, sculptors, potters, photographers, textile artists, et al.

Our strong membership is a testimony to their commitment and professionalism in the visual arts.

LSA charity number 1147593

Proofreader Julia Engwell

LEAMINGTON

Chartered Accountants and Tax Advisers

An invitation to join LSA We welcome new members!

Yes, of course we want practising artists, but we welcome all who are interested in art. We are in need of members who would like to become part of an artistic community and willing to participate in voluntary activities such as spending time running a gallery, writing for ArtSpace, or helping to organize events or talks. At the same time you can still be a treasured, valuable member and do nothing except support our objectives.

For membership forms or contact any of the team membership@lsartists.net chair@lsartists.net

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LSA members

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Liz Ellis

Jennifer Jones

Ann Mount

Annette Sharman

Clive Engwell

Kath Jones

Marie Muller

Hazel Shaw

Robert Ennis

Ambrose Jonny

John Murphy

Gail Sheppard

Mo Enright

Eleanor Kaijaks

Jennifer Neale

Ray Shields

Alexander Etter

Jessica Kaijaks

Grace Newman

Robert Shuttleworth

Barrie Etter

Nick Kaijaks Ros Kaijaks

Christine O’Sullivan

Carole Sleight

Penny Evans Peter Everitt

Bryan Kelly

Beverley Oxford

Nick Smale

Andy Farr

Usha Khosla

John Oxford

Kay Smith

Fleur Finch

Fiona Kingdon

Karen Parker

Patricia Smith

Mo Finnesey

Esther Kinnersley

Chris Partridge

Victoria Smith

Joe Fogg

Charlotte Kirkham

Kathryn Pettitt

Annette Smyth

Karen Ford

Christine Knight

Anna Philips

Ray Spence

Ann Forrester

Edith Kovacs

David Phillips

Karen Stephenson

Chris Freegard-Elmes

Milagros Kuga

Wendy Freeman

Lian Lanni

Tony Cartwright

Caroline Gatehouse

Andrew Lawrence

Roger Chamley

Janette George

David Lewis

Alison Chantrey

Carolyn Gifford

Peter Lewis

Dave Chantrey

Bob Gilhooley

Anthony Leydon

Veronika Pock

Vivian Cheng

Helena Godwin

Angus Liddell

Joy Poole

Soonoo Choksey

Sheila Graham

Rachel Liddell

Jane Powell

Douglas Clarkson

Dianne Greenway

Kate Livingston

Philippa Powell

Sheila Connor

David Haedicke

Jill Lloyd

Rosemary Preen

Wendy Cook

Anna Harper

Alison Longwill

Sharon Cresswell

Bill Henderson

Sian Love

Edward Creyton

Claire Henley

Peter Lovelock

Sandra Croft

Linda Henry

Teresa Mantle

Brenda Hillier

Howard Manttan

Robert Cunliffe

Catherine Holmes

Noreen Mason

Clive Richards

Simon Cunliffe

Sarah Horne

Peter Massey

Mark Robbins

Brenda Currigan

Sukhbir Hothi

Ian Mattingly

Hilary Roberts

John Daly

Meurig Hughes

Nicole Mays

Anni Robinson

David Broadhead

F Dance

David Hunter

Jim McGuigan

Frances Robinson

Helen Brookes

J Dance

Danielle Hutson

Karen Brooks

Diana Davies

Kim Ingvar

Amanda Bryan

Phyllis Davies

Paul Ingvar

Sonia Bublaitis

Derrick De Faye

Gillian Irving

Jacky Buckingham

Sophie De Smet

Phil Ivens

Gillian Buick

John Devane

Libby January

Jan Bunyan

Tony Dobson

Robert Jenkins

Soolie Burke

Cathy Dodd

Louise Jennings

Rosy Burman

Nora Doherty

Peter Jewel

David Butcher

Natalie Duff

Chelsea Johnson

Deborah Callaghan

Karthikeyan Durairaj

Robert Johnson

James Callaghan

Alan Dyer

Chris Jones

Neil Adcock

Marie Calvert

Eleanor Allitt

Wendy CampbellBriggs

Matthew Allton Rhiannon Alton Heather Bailey Patricia Bailey Elizabeth Ballantine Helen Ballantyne Maura Barnett Saffron Barton Anne Bench Wendy Bicknell Edward Black Trevor Blagg Meryl Blake John Boden Denise Boom Adrian Bradbury Carmen Brady Clifford Brigden Nigel Briggs

Eugenio Cappuccio Michele Carruthers

Lucy Crowley

Patrick McHale David Merrett Rik Middleton Michele Miller Sheila Millward Antoine Mitchell

Neil Phillips Giuseppe Pittarello Archie Pitts Marianne Pitts

Alex Purse Chris Putt Cathy Renken Sophie Renken

Janet Rose Gabrielle Rucinski Leslie Rucinski Mary Sylvie Sarabia Roger Sargent

Tatiana Stirbul Maureen Taylor Hansje Te Velde Bethany Tetley Mark Tilley Jonathan Treadwell David Troughton Janet Tryner Paul Tyler Nancy Upshall Vera Vasiljevic Dominica Vaughan Suminder Virk Lynnette Weaver Edith Whatling Ruth Whitington Christine Wilkinson Christine Williams Jane Williams Clare Willson Hilary Wilson Bruce Wilton Kate Wiltshire Rebecca Woodbine-

Christine Moore

Bronia Sawyer

Cusdin

Sarah Moore

Linda Scannell

Julia Yarrow

Sueli Moreton

Nick Seale

John Yeadon

Martha MoretonSmith

Claire Seneviratne

Ann Yeomans

Isobel Shackleton

Dr Richard Yeomans

Gillian Shadbolt

Andrzej Zawadzki

Cesar Jose Mota da Silva

piece by Ursula Westwood (student) www.ursulawestwood.com

We offer a wide variety of full and part time courses in the creative arts Part time and leisure courses include: Art Therapy Adobe Creative Suite and Interactive Media Ceramics Fine Art Furniture Workshops and Woodturning Glass & Jewellery Interiors Life Drawing & Painting and Drawing Photography Sewing, Dressmaking, Textiles, Creative Workshops Upholstery and Soft Furnishings Call us on: 01926 318233 or visit warwickshire.ac.uk to find out more

NEW MEMBERS WELCOME A year’s membership gives you all these benefits for just £20.

w members welcome

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Opportunities to exhibit your work

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Invitations to private views

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A free copy of ArtSpace, the LSA journal, delivered to your home

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Opportunities to meet artists working in all media

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Competitively priced scanning, printing, mounting and framing service

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Commission only exhibiting of prints and greetings cards

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Promotion of your work through links to your own website (or an LSA – provided profile page)

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Affordable studios (subject to availability)

£4.00

Forms are available from the membership secretary at membership@lsartists.net Alternatively, you may download the forms or join online at

www.lsa-artists.co.uk (‘Become a member’ tab)

LEAMINGTON STUDIO

Artists

ENJOY, LIVE AND BREATHE A LITTLE ART AND FUN INTO YOUR LIFE.

East Lodge, Jephson Gardens, Willes Road Leamington Spa, Warwickshire CV32 4ER